Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting | Ascona 2026

Mechanobiology of Infection

Sunday Speaker Abstracts

MECHANOBIOLOGY IN TUBERCULOSIS: HOW THE EMERGENT MECHANICAL RESILIENCE OF CORDS INFLUENCES INFECTION AND ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY Vivek Thacker 1 ; Richa Mishra 1 ; Anna Rafalik 1 ; Melanie Hannebelle 2 ; 1 Heidelberg University Medical Faculty, Heidelberg, Germany 2 Swiss TPH, Basel, Switzerland Single virulent mycobacteria grow into visually-striking serpentine cords. This defining phenomenological feature was reported decades ago, but we still understand very little about the need for such a highly-ordered structure and why cording is so closely associated with virulence. Using a microphysiological lung-chip model [1] and volumetric imaging of C3HeB/FeJ mouse model tissue, we recently identified mechanical resilience as a defining feature of cords – linking immunosuppression early in infection in susceptible cells, with impact on long-term lesion architecture by facilitating dissemination, tissue damage, and necrosis [2]. Additionally, cords also harbour antibiotic tolerant bacteria, including in animal models. I will describe recent work towards understanding interbacterial interactions in cords, their biophysical implications, and approaches to target this via host-directed therapy in TB. 1. Mishra & Hannebelle et al., Cell, 2023, 186(e28), 5135-5150. 2. Thacker et al., eLife, 2019. Doi: 10.7554/elife.59961.

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